So I decided to take advantage of the cold front we're experiencing right now and hit the woods. I headed out right after lunch so I could sight in my Rem 700 after making some adjustments to the scope. I was planning to use it and hunt one of the club stands at the lease. I love my ML but that stand requires a rifle that can reach out several hundred yards. I get there and see that the stand I wanted to hunt had already been checked out. Which was a little odd because it was noon and no one usually hunts in the middle of the day. So I drive down the road and peak around the corner with my bino's. Sure enough 400 yards down the road Tim was in the stand. So I turned around and left so I wouldn't mess up his hunt.
I stopped by my food plot to check my trail cameras for activity. I planted some Shot Plot about a month ago and it's really taking off. There were plenty of deer on the trail cams so I decided to hunt there. I went to the range down the road, sighted in my 700, and got ready to head to the food plot. I had brought my Endeavor with me so I decided to use it since the longest possible shot at the plot was about 100 yards. I loaded it up with my pet load of 120g BH209, 250g Barnes T-EZ with MMP HPH-12 sabot, and a CCI 209M primer. I entered the ground blind at about 1:30PM and settled in for a nice day.
It was nice and cool so there weren't any skeeters out today, which was very nice for a change. I sat there for several hours and around 6:10PM, I spotted a spike moving around back in the large oaks that are toward the rear of the plot. I watched him for a little while and then he moved in to feed on the Shot Plot. I still had about an hour or so of good shooting light left so I decided I was going to pass on him.... for now.... I did sight in on him just so I could let my adrenaline die down a bit and practice aiming. I like to do that before taking a shot anyway. After my jitters went away, I put the rifle down and just watched him with the binos for a while. He moved back behind one of the oaks and then disappeared.
About 15 minutes later he came back out and this time he had company. I didn't know at the time but his buddy was an 8 pointer. All I saw was that he was a better buck than the spike and I knew I wanted to take him. So I got the rifle up and rested it on my make-shift shooting sticks I had made out of two small saplings. I aimed in and waited for him to turn broadside. He was right next to the small oak at the South East corner of my plot and I had ranged it at 85 yards earlier in the day. He turned broadside facing to the left and with the crosshairs centered behind his left shoulder, I squeezed the trigger. I couldn't see where he went with all the smoke but I knew my Endeavor was dead-on and I was confident I made a good shot. Once my ears stopped ringing I could hear him thrashing back under the oaks. So I quickly reloaded (just in case), got a pinch of Copenhagen, and exited the blind. I walked toward where he was standing to look for blood. Right when I came to where he was standing I heard him thrashing some more. I walked toward that direction and spotted him kicking around on the ground about 30 yards away. I stood there for a few minutes and let him expire.
Here's what I got...
He's by no means a giant but he's a trophy to me. This is when I realized he was an 8 pointer and I had in fact made a good shot. It entered right behind the left shoulder and exited about 8 inches behind the right.
It was getting dark fast and he was big enough that I decided to take him to the processor instead of butchering him myself. So I loaded him up and took off...
And here's a pic from the processor...
It was a great hunt and I'm very happy with the results. The cool thing is, I got Cuddeback pictures of a bigger buck coming to that food plot. Hopefully I'll get a shot at him once the rut heats up.
SC 8-Pointer goes on an "Endeavor"
